Happy to Be Here *

I'll be travelling and working abroad next week!

I'm being shipped off to one of our business unit facilities to attend meetings, go on tours, and interview people about an application I have developed and another one that is in the planning stages.

Road trip!!

The biggest challenge is going to be sticking to my training regimen when my schedule is borked, I don't have access to a full kitchen, and I'll be eating dinner out every evening. I think I've got a workable plan to handle it... details after the cut.
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Exercise will be easy as the hotel has a gym. As long as they have hand weights, a bench, and a stationary bike or treadmill, I'm golden!

If you have any ideas I'm open to suggestions! Remember no: wheat, pork, potatoes, or corn. I'm also avoiding nuts right now. (( Hurr hurr hurr. I'm twelve. ))

Tuesday morning I was 192.6 lbs. Saturday morning I am 189.2 lbs. 3.4lbs lost in three days? This is a LOT to lose in such a short period of time so I emailed my trainer to ask about it.

She suspects is the sudden reduction of sodium in my diet. I... might have been eating bacon nearly every day, prior to starting this programme. *coughs* *examines the ceiling* I really like bacon.

I'm to weigh myself again on Monday and see where I'm at.
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Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day but, sadly, I don't often have the time I want to spend preparing and consuming breakfast so I tend to make do during the week and take my time on the weekend.

During the week I get up early to go to work and I eat my breakfast when I get to work. Having to go gluten-free throws a bit of a wrench in my options for breakfast as I've now crossed toast, bagels, and pancakes off my menu. But what I'm left with isn't so bad.

My basic work-day breakfast:
- using a microwave egg poacher I poach egg whites before I leave the condo and toss them in a small tupperware container
- when I get to work I turn on my personal kettle for a cup of tea
- I use hot water from the coffee maker to mix up a sachet of instant oatmeal (which I suspect are not totally gluten-free but I'm taking baby steps here)

Today I had the time to make a weekend breakfast but my kitchen still isn't completely equipped to handle full gluten-free cooking so I made:
- egg white omelette with red, yellow, and green pepper
- 1/4 cup of steel-cut oats with dried cherries from my parents' tree in the mountains

It may not seem like a lot but it took me an hour to eat with two, liesurely cups of tea and putzing about on the Internet. Now that I'm finished Breakfast, I'm ready to clean my kitchen and get lunch going! I might try taking some photos of what I'm cooking this weekend; some of it is interesting!

I met with my personal trainer yesterday evening. The biggest change for the next twelve weeks is going to be my diet.

Here are changes by category:

Protein
I'm permitted nearly all meat except pork, shrimp, and crustaceans. I may eat as many egg whites I like in a day but only one egg yolk. I need to eat 1-3 servings of fish per week.

Fat
Yogurt and cheese still fall under this category but now I am also encouraged to use olive oil, almonds/almond butter, natural peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds.

Fibre
I have a rainbow of vegetables I may eat but tomatoes and cucumber are off the list for now. Thankfully onions are still okay because I eat a LOT of onions!

Starch
NO WHEAT GLUTEN OR POTATOES! *weeps* My celiac friends, I may be poking you for advice/recipes. I'm to get my starch from specific legumes, rice, peas, and yams/sweet potatoes. Good thing I just bought a bag of jasmine rice but I should probably pick up a few varieties. I'm thinking arborio rice so I can do a nice yam risotto.

Fruit (This is a new category and takes calories from the 'starch' category)
No oranges it looks like but I can have pineapple so I'm happy! Otherwise, it's another rainbow list of fruit I should eat! I'm very pleased to see bananas on there especially if I can also have peanut butter.

Foods I am to Avoid
Corn, lentils, wheat gluten, kidney and navy beans, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. No problem! (Well, except for the corn. I DO love a big bowl of popcorn in the evening. So sad.)

Overall the changes are really healthy!  I'm eating 1900 calories a day to start and picking up my exercise program again.  In March I'll go back to Yoga (after all the New Year Resolution folks drop out) and I'm hoping by the end of April to meet my goal of dropping 25lbs!

One thing my trainer would like me to keep tabs on is how I feel during the training period.  It isn't just about the losing weight, it's about feeling better physically and emotionally.  I really appreciate how well-rounded the program she's put together for me is and I'm hoping it will really help me get on the right track towards a healthier lifestyle.

I'll try not to spam you guys too much but I'll do regular updates on my progress and what I find works and doesn't work for me.  If you'd prefer I keep this info on a filter of some sorts, let me know in the comments!